I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 199

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“What the hell are you doing-!!”

Simon screamed with a terrified face.

His eyes were covered with black cloth, and his hands and feet were all bound so he couldn’t move at all.

“R-release this! I order you to untie this right now!!”

He had never even set foot on a battlefield.

Naturally, he didn’t know how to handle a sword or had ever fought physically with anyone.

Being instantly subdued by Luc Hallen was perhaps an inevitable result.

Even so, his face burned hot with shame.

“Duke Hallen, what grudge do you have against me…!”

Simon suddenly shut his mouth.

An ominous thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

“Don’t tell me.”

“…”

“Don’t tell me you’ve joined hands with Aleon?”

Simon’s lips twisted.

“That’s it! So you came to occupy the Imperial Palace!!”

Duke Hallen silently stared at him. Simon shouted.

“You don’t know yet, do you? That Duke Aleon Tigris is dead.”

At those words, Duke Hallen’s previously unmoved expression stiffened slightly.

Simon raised his voice.

“Pector personally executed the traitor! That person’s plan has come to nothing! You’ll regret treating me like this by siding with Aleon now-!! However.”

“…”

“I understand.”

Simon added with a voice full of tension. His lips were trembling.

“You’ve been busy taking care of Rishion and were in the dark about the Empire’s political situation. At a time when you’d just arrived at the capital, Aleon’s words about starting a rebellion together must have sounded plausible.”

“…”

“…I understand, I understand everything! So if you release me now and show your loyalty, I’ll spare you from severe punishment. I promise!”

Duke Hallen said nothing at all.

Thinking silence meant agreement, Simon forced a smile.

“H-how about it. Aren’t you grateful, hm?! I’ll really forgive everything! I’ll forgive you, so please untie this… Mmph!!!”

Then. Duke Hallen stuffed a piece of cloth covered in filth into Simon’s mouth.

“Mmgh—!! Mmph!!!”

Simon let out a horrible sound.

Duke Hallen didn’t even blink as he took rope from a soldier and firmly secured Simon’s mouth and the cloth piece.

“Mmph!!! Mmgh—!!”

“Shut up.”

At the cold words, Simon’s screams stopped with a start.

“Do you think I came looking for you just because of rebellion, Simon.”

Veins stood out on his wrinkled hands.

Simon trembled without being able to let out even a groan.

“You know Charlotte Irina.”

Then, a familiar name flowed from the Duke’s mouth.

A name he hadn’t heard in a long time, but one he definitely knew.

The woman he had personally eliminated to ascend to the throne.

“I saw a painting on the way here. In the corridor of the Empress’s Palace where portraits of previous empresses are hung.”

“…”

“…She had such a graceful face. Her eyes were so clear that they put the viewer’s heart at ease.”

Luc Hallen’s voice trembled slightly.

After keeping his mouth tightly shut for a moment, he asked.

“…Why did you kill her.”

Simon flinched.

“…”

“Why did you kill that child—!!”

The next moment, a fierce roar echoed through the space.

Duke Hallen grabbed Simon by the collar.

Tears were forming in his bloodshot red eyes.

“Unlike your wife, did she seem easy because she was a child with no connections?”

“…”

“Was it because she had no parents to watch her back, no siblings to support her…?”

“…”

“So, so you took that precious life so easily!!!”

Drop, drop.

Duke Hallen’s hot tears fell onto Simon’s cheeks.

“She was a precious child I never got to hold properly, not even once…”

“…”

“She was so precious and valuable that just thinking of her made my heart break!!”

Duke Hallen gasped for breath.

“If I had the chance back then, I would have killed you even if it meant my last breath.”

“…”

“I would have torn you apart with these hands and killed you myself!”

The strength gradually left Duke Hallen’s hands as he cried out.

Sadina slowly approached him.

And supporting Duke Hallen, she gestured to the soldiers behind them.

“Get that stupid fool out of my sight. Don’t kill him. A traitor who’s been playing emperor can’t be let off easily.”

“Mmgh, mmph-!! Mmmmph!!!”

Simon struggled with his body.

However, Halen’s Royal Guard bound him and dragged him outside.

Sadina let out a small sigh.

“Come on. Stop crying already.”

She gently patted Duke Hallen’s shoulder.

“…I understand too. Right now you’re only thinking of what you couldn’t do for her. But.”

“…”

“How fortunate that you can still do something now.”

“…”

“Even if you couldn’t while she was alive. We’re here now, aren’t we.”

“…”

“You saw your daughter’s portrait, caught that damn emperor alive… and now you’ll see your grandchild find their rightful place.”

A faint deflating sound finally escaped from Duke Hallen’s mouth.

Sadina grinned.

“Sharlina watching over us would be happy too.”

“…”

“She’d definitely smile brightly saying this is enough, saying thank you. She was such a kind child.”

“…”

“So stop looking so pitiful and let’s go. We need to see if that bastard Aleon is really dead.”

Slowly, Duke Hallen lowered the hand that had been covering his eyes.

“…They must be mistaken. He’s not the type of person to die like that.”

Sadina nodded as if it were obvious.

“Of course. At most he probably has a hole or two in his body.”

But contrary to their expectations, Aleon’s condition when they saw him directly was critical.

Several priests tried to purify his curse, but it was useless.

Moreover, this was a battlefield.

“Don’t let your guard down! One at two o’clock!!”

The Tigris forces fought desperately.

Fortunately, they had reduced the number of demon beasts significantly up until now, so the situation wasn’t entirely hopeless.

The problem was….

“Ugh…! I can’t hold on much longer! My strength is…!”

Rosette, who had been binding Hemera’s limbs with tree branches, cried out.

“Ahhh, my lady! Please come to your senses…!”

As the branches snapped with cracking sounds, Martina stepped forward to physically restrain Hemera.

However, Hemera’s strength was tremendous.

Estelin urgently turned her gaze.

She saw Selene standing frozen with a blank expression.

“Selene….”

Estelin held back her rising tears and approached her.

“It’s, it’s okay. It’ll be fine. If we look, there must be some way….”

“…Why.”

Selene whispered in a small voice.

“Why can’t I do anything.”

Blood beaded on her tightly bitten lips.

“I’ve released Pluma’s power, I can clearly feel it inside my body…!”

She struck her chest with her fist.

Tears fell drop by drop from her eyes.

“In a situation like this, why… why is there nothing I can do—!!!”

Estelin withdrew her outstretched hand with a haggard face.

Selene’s face was so grief-stricken that she couldn’t even offer comfort.

“What good is it if a path opens to the altar and a pillar of light descends….”

“….”

“What good is it if I’m a chosen soul. What’s the point of having a body that can harbor Pluma… what use is any of that—!!”

Selene’s gaze turned alternately to the struggling Hemera and the unconscious Aleon.

“I can’t even protect one family member! There’s no way to break that damn curse….”

But then, she suddenly stopped speaking and closed her mouth.

Estelin carefully examined her face.

“Selene?”

“…There is.”

Selene muttered and urgently turned to Estelin.

“There is, there is…!”

“Selene, what….”

Before she could finish speaking, Selene brushed past her.

Then she approached Walter and asked urgently.

“Walter. Oscar, where is Oscar right now?”

“The temporary altar. I need the location of the temporary altar in the Imperial Palace!”

“The temporary altar… you mean?”

“Yes. I’m going to summon Kerus there.”

Michael, who had been listening, froze in place.

“Kerus… you mean the leader of the Diermant, who were the sacred sprites of the god Pluma.”

I nodded.

‘Mother has been exposed to Pector’s ability for a long time.’

Pector’s ability was to erase all of someone’s memories and turn their mind into a blank slate.

With the power of the god Prater added to that, Mother had no choice but to be helplessly controlled.

However.

“At least Pector’s ability can be nullified by Kerus.”

The day I first met him.

While collapsed, I had dreamed of my past life in my unconsciousness.

More precisely, the past life of Duchess Laurent that Mother had implanted.

And it was Kerus who woke me from that dream.

The words Kerus spoke then were still vivid in my memory.

‘I went to the trouble of breaking the curse, and now you want to die on your own? How amusing.’

“Kerus broke Mother’s ability that had been cast on me.”

“….”

“Since that day, I haven’t had a single dream of my past life!”

Until then, I had often dreamed the dreams Mother had implanted.

It was such a vast amount of ability that Mother’s magic power remained in my body.

But after meeting Kerus, all those nightmares disappeared.

He had completely annihilated the remnants of Mother’s ability within me.

That was the power of Kerus, the leader of the ancient sacred sprites, the Diermant.

“If we summon Kerus and break Pector’s ability, then….”

Father, me, and all our happy memories from the past.

Mother’s forgotten memories might return.

And if that happens.

“She might be able to endure that binding spell….”

My voice came out trembling.

I wasn’t certain, but I still wanted to try.

“Mother is a strong person… she might overcome it….”

“….”

“She might really come back.”

Tears fell regardless of my will.

Walter, who had been listening to my words with a stern expression, nodded.

“Understood. I’ll immediately contact Oscar to find the temporary altar within the Imperial Palace….”

“That won’t be possible.”

Then. Pector appeared among us.

His pitch-black pupils stared directly at me.

“Child of Pluma, you cannot take a single step away from this place.”

“….”

“Because I won’t let you go.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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